


Nerds

by orphan_account



Series: Femslash February 2015 [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Femslash February
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 13:44:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3292529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Maybe you wouldn’t be so distracted if you didn’t stop to salute every time you see a bald eagle.” “It’s what Captain America would want.” “You’ve never met Captain America.” “Yes, but I feel like I have.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nerds

“Oh my thunder _god_ ,” Darcy exclaimed obnoxiously. She’d emerged from below deck on the boat she and Jane had called home for the past week and a half. One of Jane’s scientific colleagues – a marine biologist – had invited them onto his sailboat while he and his intern ran some routine tests off the coast of southeast Alaska. They weren’t much help – neither of them knew a thing about marine life – but had been in the area and were enjoying being along for the ride.

Even in the middle of summer, the days in Alaska were crisp and the nights were chilly. There were presumably whales everywhere, although Darcy had only seen two at the start of their journey and none since. She’d seen plenty of bald eagles though. More eagles than people. And a ton of trees. So many trees.

Jane was huddled up on the deck in her pajamas, wrapped in a quilt and surrounded by books and notebooks. Darcy didn’t need to look closely to know what she was doing. For nearly a year now, she and Jane (mostly Jane) had been working on Einstein-Rosen Bridge calculations. It was purely theoretical business, but Jane determined to wrap her head around it, figure it out… Darcy was convinced it was Nobel Prize material, but Jane wasn’t in it for any sort of recognition.

To be honest, Darcy wasn’t sure why Jane was so passionate about this. She thought Jane’s enthusiasm for the idea would fade when, three months ago, she broke up with Thor and, shortly thereafter, started dating Darcy. Turned out Jane’s interest was more in the science of space travel than it was in that hunk of a muscular god. Go figure.

Honestly, Darcy should’ve known Jane would never abandon something once she’d started it. She never did anything by half-measures. Not research, not a relationship. It’s why, she said, she’d broken up with Thor. “I felt like we couldn’t devote one hundred percent to each other,” she said. Darcy wasn’t quite sure she knew what that meant. She’d never had that sort of… _deep_ relationship. She’d had serious relationships, sure, but they were always so… casual, and convenient, never quite as passionate or intensely emotional as things always seemed to be in the movies. With Jane, though, she was starting to understand.

 _I’m turning into a Nicholas Sparks novel,_ she thought, snapping that train of thought shut, and spoke up, drawing Jane’s attention.

“Jane Foster, do you have any idea what time it is? It’s three in the morning! We have a full day of… more of whatever the heck Vivaan’s been up to this whole time. Every time he explains it to me, I kind of zone out…”

Jane rolled her eyes, setting aside her books to make room for Darcy to sit. “Maybe you wouldn’t be so distracted if you didn’t stop to salute every time you see a bald eagle.” Darcy shrugged and sat.

“It’s what Captain America would want,” she said assuredly. Jane raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve never met Captain America,” she pointed out.

“Yes, but I _feel_ like I have.” Darcy grinned and scooted closer to Jane to throw an arm around her. “You can really see the stars up here, huh?”

Jane smiled softly. “Yeah. It’s really beautiful.” But she wasn’t looking at the sky. Darcy rolled her eyes – again – and elbowed Jane’s ribs playfully.

“You sap,” she said, planting a kiss on Jane’s lips. Jane’s smile widened. Darcy felt a sudden pang of insecurity, seemingly out of nowhere, and lowered her head. Jane lifted a hand and tucked Darcy’s hair behind her ear, a slow, gentle gesture.

“What?” she asked softly. Darcy shook her head, but Jane was persistent. “Tell me. I promise I won’t make fun of you.”

Darcy looked up, meeting Jane’s eyes. “Dating you is… great. You know I’m loving it,” she began. “But it’s also kind of… difficult. Because I feel like I’ll never live up to… y’know…”

“Thor,” Jane finished. Darcy shrugged and nodded. Jane chuckled.

“Hey!” Darcy snapped. “Don’t laugh at me. It’s a serious concern. He’s a _god_ , and he looks the part. I’m… human, I guess, just… average. Not nearly as smart as you. I don’t have a lot of money, I’ve got so much student debt, and I don’t have a lot of ambition. I’m not super skinny or, like, ridiculously beautiful. So I don’t know what you see in me.”

“I’m not dating you because you’re a Norse god or a supermodel, and I didn’t date Thor for those reasons either,” Jane said. “You’re loyal and funny and, yes, smart, and very attractive, in my opinion. And you’ve stuck with me all this time. No one else has done that.”

“I’m just in it for the science,” Darcy said with a smirk. Jane laughed and followed up for another kiss; this time Darcy parted her lips and deepened the kiss, sliding in her tongue and slipping her hand into Jane’s silky brown hair.

Darcy let the kiss drag on until she was pondering whether sex on the deck of a boat would be as queasy as she was imagining (her first few days of sailing had been less than ideal in terms of seasickness) when Jane broke away and let out a loud, long yawn. Darcy shook her head and stood, gathering up Jane’s books.

“Bed,” she ordered. “Now. You’ve spent long enough on your space bridge. And we have a long day of helping your nerd friends with their nerd stuff ahead of us.” 

“Alright, alright,” Jane relented, taking the hand Darcy offered to help her up. Darcy ushered her quietly below deck, so as not to wake their so-called “nerd friends.”

“You know,” Jane whispered, “You’re just as much of a nerd as the rest of us, even if you pretend not to be.” 

“’Course I am,” Darcy admitted. “I’d have to be, to put up with you. You only date nerds.”

With one last kiss, they crawled into their separate bunks and went to sleep.


End file.
